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So Toblerone is the latest victim of a weight cut, but also a re-design.  Admit the only time I have bought it is in airport duty free shops to use up foreign coins, then it was often one of the varieties that you can't get in the UK.  Also the smaller bars on sale never taste the same as the bigger ones.  Even before Brexit, manufacturers were saying they've changed/reduced size rather than putting up prices.  

Going back to Toblerone, I understand that a certain low-cost supermarket (beginning with A) sells a reasonable substitute, as does a well-known high street store whose food sales are better than their clothing.

I can remember Mars Bars being 4d with the top choc layer being quite chunky.  Anyone else like to share their nostalgia about changes to their favourite chocs???

And now Sir Jimmy Young at the grand age of 95.

Forever the professional, I remember his Radio 2 morning show where he invited listeners to send in recipes which were featured on the programme, preceded by the jingle "what's the recipe today Jim?" Thankfully he didn't play his own records too often....

I also remember the uproar when he was replaced by Jeremy Vine, but he maintain decorum in explaining it was time for younger blood to take over.

Originally Posted by Steve Richardson

“oh my word, shes conceded.... Trumpton is the most powerful person in the world. Time to start digging and stocking up on on tins...  wonder if I can remember how to use an SLR? ”

Or offering your spare room to one of the many Americans who now want to quit their beloved country 

Our friends "across the pond" are full of surprises, but they once elected a film star as president, so this shouldn't be a surprise.  Will be interesting to see if Trump modifies his behaviour, or how long it will take before he makes the first presidential sexist gaffe......

Having done two London Poppy Days as a collector, it was interesting to see the reaction of our overseas visitors.  Most ignored us, but then Brits did too.  The Irish donated but didn't want to wear a poppy, so some politics was evident.  The majority of people were willing to give, with a few having a "mini rant" about how different UK Governments have ignored the military past and present.  Maybe the foreign visitors didn't understand what it meant and thought that foreign currency would not be accepted (it was).  

For anyone not familiar with London Poppy Day, it's when the Mayor of London allows military personnel onto the streets to collect for the Royal British Legion.  The 2016 event is today, with many celebrities giving their time including Dame Barbara Windsor and Joss Stone.  The atmosphere in Leadenhall Market was amazing when the RAF Band were playing, immaculate in appearance and playing!  TfL staff are also very good at remembering fallen colleagues.  

Having worked closely with the Military it was a great opportunity to get involved in a very worthy cause.  Well done to our PM if she really did say that; too many countries try to interfere with our customs, it's about time we stood up to them......

You've raised some interesting points Rachael.

Cyber security is relatively new but not only applies to businesses (small, medium and large) but also to individuals.  There are people who spend all day every day sitting at a computer trying to hack into government systems as well as individual accounts.  Unfortunately, protection for things such as air traffic control will be very expensive but the alternative does not bear thinking about....

The NHS is a more contentious subject.  Numerous Governments have failed to deal with the money wasting on managerial jobs instead of "front line" ones.  Add to this education and the military.  If the civil service was ever privatised, there would be lots of people who wouldn't survive five minutes in the business world.  Sorry to anyone who knows a civil servant that doesn't fit this stereotype, but my recent experience working in the public sector is that there are a few good ones but lots who have little/no business acumen.  

Collected first Christmas present yesterday from Argos in local Sainsbury's.  Reserved and paid for online.  Very quick and polite service.  As I've mentioned before, store is a little further than town centre but I'll definitely use this one again.

Great topic Rachael!

I can remember when the Government introduced the work experience scheme many years ago.  Some of the schools actively engaged with local companies, whilst others didn't bother to follow up on how the kids were doing.  Most of the kids were only interested in working for a certain fast-food company, but that could have been to do with the area where my then employer was located.  There were only a few offered jobs as most of them didn't even know their alphabet, couldn't count, or both.....

An ex-neighbour teaches introduction to business at a local academy, but I'm not sure if all have the same curriculum.  Also there is "take your child to work day" which is meant to give kids a taste of the work environment.  It tends to be larger organisations who either attend schools to give talks or invite groups to visit via their outreach programme.  Yes, funding may be an issue but sometimes it can be dictated by the head's attitude towards certain careers.  

I did see it.  What it says is "dispatched within 2 days" which I would not interpret as delivered within 2 days.  Yes, you may fulfil your promise of dispatch within 2 days but if you are then handing packages over to a third party (Royal Mail, Hermes, UPS, etc) you can only quote their standard delivery times.  

If you want to make a general statement then it's a good suggestion to put a general message explaining that some items may take a little longer, to ensure they reach the customer in excellent condition.  If you took a customer's mobile number as part of ordering experience, why not send them a short text when goods are dispatched. Unfortunately, you may have to resort to putting dispatch (or delivery) information on each of your product pages.

Interesting that BA has also announced new route from Gatwick to Fort Lauderdale, starting June 2017; this time using Boeing 777.  New route will appeal  to cruise market and avoid Miami airport (which, from what I have heard, isn't a bad thing!).

Not done 787 yet, but it depends which airline operates it, 9 or 10 abreast in economy wouldn't entice me any time soon even if it was only a relatively short run to Canaries, etc.   I'm more an Airbus girl.....

Some of the villages don't have a lot going for them in terms of appearance.  Harmondsworth isn't that "leafy" and is home to an immigrant detention centre.  Wonder what will happen to that as I worked for the main contractor when it was being built around 15 years ago.  The only other one I can comment on is Colnbrook, where the new perimeter fence would go through the village, so some properties would stay and some wouldn't.  My cousin who is lives there is yet to comment on the plans.

Gone are the days of only paying residents a paltry amount under compulsory purchase orders.  The offer being made now is 125% of market value.  It was interesting the other day to hear Howard Davies also advocating regional airport expansion, possibly Birmingham, by building a second runway.  This would impact on the Solihull side of the airport; it would be a brave person to suggest demolishing Marston Green